Carmel Cafe Market Partner John Ross said the plan is to renovate the 8,000-square-foot Mangos structure at 3750 Hamilton Blvd., using 5,700 square feet for the new restaurant. The remaining 2,300 square feet will be sublet to a business with daytime clientele since Carmel Cafe tends to draw most of its customers in the evening, he said.

Neither Ross nor township officials were sure of which Allentown establishment held the liquor license before tonight's transfer. Mangos had a liquor license, but it was transferred to another restaurant before Carmel Cafe entered the picture, officials said.

Carmel Cafe attorney Mark Kozar, of the Pennsylvania law firm Flaherty & O'Hara, said the South Whitehall restaurant will seat 180 people, serving lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Carmel Cafe will have about 50 full-time and part-time employees, he said.

The restaurant has six locations in Florida and one in Pennsylvania, Kozar said. The first Keystone State location opened last year in Wayne, and a second is slated to begin welcoming customers next month in Warrington Township, Ross said.

South Whitehall's Carmel Cafe will be the first in the Lehigh Valley. The growing restaurant chain was established by Outback Steakhouse co-founder Chris Sullivan, Kozar said.

He said the restaurant allows customers to use tableside iPads or waitstaff to place orders and encourages them to sample wines from around world with their meals by suggesting pairings. In addition to bottles, customers can choose from glasses of wine ranging from 3 to 9 ounces, Kozar said.

About 30 percent of Carmel Cafe's sales come from alcohol sales, he said.